Tobago utility workers stage protest

IN A SHOW of solidarity with their Trinidad counterparts, employees of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) in Tobago recently marched through the streets of Scarborough. The National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW) had called to WASA workers to march from Shaw Park to the APT James Park, Scarborough, in support of a call for total obedience of labour laws and International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, freedom to join trade unions and for employers to respect the right of collective bargaining.

The union felt Tobago was the most suitable starting point for its “one month continuous struggle” because workers on the island tend to be more docile in terms of industrial action. “They are all our enemies, the government and management,” said Andy Critchlow, coordinator of the NUGFW Negotiating team. “WASA is supposed to spend something like $20 Billion between now and 20/20 vision and this is what the people (management) are after. They are not about providing an efficient service it is a way of getting rich quick.” The Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), bargaining agents for T&TEC workers, said they have rejected a ten percent wage increase offer from the management of the utility.